Poland Long-term Hydrogen Project

Polish state-controlled oil and gas company, PGNiG has started working on projects for the use of hydrogen in the energy and automotive sectors. The company will investigate the possibilities of hydrogen storage and transport through the gas network.

With the implementation of planned hydrogen projects, PGNiG will join the development of the alternative fuels market, and thus help Poland meet their EU climate policy goals. Over the next four years, PGNiG plans to spend over $8 million on research related to the new program.

The first and the most advanced is the Hydra Tank project, a hydrogen refueling research station. PGNiG has signed a contract with a Polish-British consortium for its design and construction. The station is scheduled to be launched in Warsaw in 2021.

PGNiG has also started researching the possibility of storing and transporting hydrogen using a natural gas network. As part of the InGrid - Power to Gas project, an installation will be built in one of the company’s current locations, with the production of “green hydrogen” slated to begin in 2022. For this purpose, PGNiG plans to use electricity generated by solar panels.

The third project is the establishment of a “New Fuel Lab” within the capital group’s Central Measurement and Research Laboratory. It will be the first laboratory in Poland to study hydrogen and its mixtures as fuel. The fourth project concerns gas mobility, as part of the Polish program focused on the transformation of transport in the low-carbon direction. And the fifth project concerns “blue hydrogen”, which is the production of hydrogen from natural gas.

“The new hydrogen program is the first example of PGNiG’s return to green energy. Over the next 2-3 years, we want to create a coherent chain of hydrogen competences that will allow for further development in this area” – the PGNiG President Jerzy Kwiecinski said in an interview for Polish media.

PGNiG is responsible for the extraction of natural gas and crude oil in Poland, import of natural gas to Poland, storage of gas in underground gas storage facilities, distribution of gas fuels, as well as the development of natural gas and crude oil deposits in Poland and abroad. Consolidated revenues amounted to $10 billion in 2019.

For more information please contact FCS Warsaw, Poland Commercial Specialist Anna Janczewska, at anna.janczewska@trade.gov